5 Easy Ways to Take a Beautiful Silhouette Photo

Silhouette are striking photographs. Wanna know an easy ways to take a beautiful silhouette photo? It’s not hard at all. Keep reading and you’ll learn exactly how to do it! Taking silhouette shots are actually much easier than you’d think (plus they are one of my favorite type of shots to take!) You don’t even need to have a camera that costs thousands, you can rock a silhouette shot with a starter camera. Here, you’ll learn step by step how to take a beautiful silhouette photo and if you keep reading until the end, I’ll even show you a video of a super simple Photoshop trick you can do to add a colorful sky to your silhouette shot!

1.Watch the Skyline

To get a beautiful silhouette make sure that your sky is open and clear. Any tress, building or other distractions will show and will take away from the subject of your silhouette. It’s OK to incorporate those things, but don’t have them overpower, touch or take away from the main subject in your photo.

2.Stand Below Your Subject

Keep your subject slightly than you. Look for a small hill or area where the ground is slightly elevated. Place your subject there. You stand under your subjects. You can even crouch or lay down and aim your camera up to get more of the sky and less of the ground.

3.Look at Profiles

Side shots or profiles look the best for silhouettes because you can see more detail. Seeing their nose and lips is more interesting than just seeing a blob of their head. Make sure to also watch the placement of their legs and arms so they don’t all blend together in the photo. Carefully place your subjects with the understanding that you will only be seeing their outline.

4.Pay Attention to Clothing or Props

Big and bulky clothing does not make a great silhouette shot. Have your subject remove any jackets, scarves, or big hats. Tight clothing will shot the outline of your subject much clearly. Big clothing or layer will make them appear heavier than they are. If you are using props, make sure that they are angle where you will be able to tell what it is just by the outline.

5.Expose For the Sky

The settings on your camera should be set to expose for the sky. This will typically mean your shutter speed will be faster and your f stop narrower. Start by setting your f stop at f 10 and play around with your other settings from there.

BONUS: VIDEO TUTORIAL

Once your silhouette is taken correctly and beautifully, load it up into Photoshop and add some colorful sky to give it an extra pop! Take a look at the tutorial below to show you how to add a colorful sky to your silhouette in just a minute!

If you do try out this tutorial, I would love to see what you create! Please follow me over on Instagram and if you post a silhouette shot, make sure to mention or tag me @cozyclicks so I can see what you’ve got!